ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. right now on "andrea mitchell reports," bon voyage as mitt romney prepares to fly overseas, which candidate gets the best marks as commander in chief? your exclusive first look at our new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll ahead with chuck todd and chris cillizza. and a first look at mitt romney's new charges against the president's foreign policy team. in front of the same veterans group the president appealed to yesterday. >> you don't just have my words. you have my deeds. you have my track record. you have the promises i've made and the promises that i've kept. in colorado, the emotional accounts of families looking into the eyes of the accused mass killer. and the friends who now have an unshakeable bond. >> you never really know how

close you are to somebody and how important they are to you until you can test your friendship and literally say you were both willing to lay down your lives for each other. because she was willing to give up hers to let me run, and i was willing to give up mine to make sure she lived. and elton john gets personal about fame, about marriage, and fatherhood. >> i never thought i would be a father and i have now got a child, a son, and it's the greatest thing in the whole wide world. >> good day. i'm andrea mitchell live in washington. in our daily fix, an exclusive first look at your new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll at mitt romney begins a week long foreign policy push with a speech today to the veterans of foreign wars, that about an hour from now. our new poll shows that he still has work to do, trying to persuade voters he is ready to be commander in chief. romney trails the president on that score by ten points. but mitt romney leads the president by seven points,

43-36, on the quality that may be most important to voters this year, having good ideas to improve the economy. chris cillizza is an msnbc contributor and managing editor of post politics.com and nbc news chief white house correspondent and political director, chuck todd, hosts the daily rundown. chuck, you have gone through these numbers. these questions show first of all the distance mitt romney still has to close in narrowing the gap but he's ahead on the key indicator of the economy. >> he is. there's another part to this question that we should reveal. >> we were just talking about it off camera. >> that i would argue is sort of the potential where romney either makes up ground and wins this election or he never closes the gap and it will be explained why he loses it. that's this issue of who is best to look out for the middle class. the president is ahead of romney. this is a values economic question. it's as much about a values -- about your own personal values as it is about the economy. it's a double digit lead here

for obama. look, democrats usually win this question, but if you're romney, you can't be losing it by double digits. yes, he's winning the economy question but not by double digits so he either needs to win the economy question by double digits or close that gap here. so look, he's got -- he is winning the default argument right now against the president. he is not yet winning an argument on behalf of mitt romney yet. that's a finite thing to explain. >> chris, do you think this shows some impact of the hammering from the obama campaign on mitt romney in terms of the type of business experience, the whole issue of not only the taxes but bain capital, what it does or doesn't do? >> sure. i mean, look, the broadest measure, chuck points out that looking out for middle class, it's really a values question. it's kind of like who shares your values on the economy. i would say the stuff around bain, when did he leave, when did he not leave, i'm not sure how much that penetrates. the tax return stuff penetrated more and that speaks to again,

kind of an exoticness that exists about mitt romney's finances because he is frankly significantly more wealthy than the average american. i would say, though, that if i'm mitt romney, i look at these numbers and chuck's right, if he doesn't close down on the middle class he doesn't win. i look at these numbers and say we are not in a bad place because again, so much in my opinion of beating an incumbent is getting people convinced to fire the incumbent. getting them to hire you is a small part of the equation, though if you don't have it, you don't win. but i just think it seems clear people are dissatisfied with the way in which barack obama is handling the economy. the question is, can mitt romney say okay, you're not happy about this, i'm over here and i can do it better. >> let me show you the way the two candidates are now, the two campaigns, are framing this today. first of all, a new campaign ad from president obama where he's direct to camera, very early in the campaign to see something quite like this. >> over the next four months, you have a choice to make.

not just between two political parties, or even two people. it's a choice between two very different plans for our country. sometimes politics can seem very small. but the choice you face, it couldn't be bigger. >> that was like a closing argument, not an opening argument. and this is mitt romney with cnbc's larry kudlow yesterday. >> it's a very strange and in some respects, foreign to the american experience type of philosophy. if you have a business and you started it, you did build it, and you deserve credit for that. it was not built for you by government. >> without getting into the argument as to whether he is taking the president out of context over the build it business, he is still using the term foreign and i tell you, this is happening every day, it is a dog whistle. >> i've gotten a lot of tweets about this, lot of e-mails. people saying what's he doing, why does he keep doing that. >> what do you think he's doing? >> it is about, to take him at

face value, about trying to paint the president as out of touch, that he doesn't have the experience, that it's all about -- >> out of touch is out of touch. foreign is suggesting somebody who grew up in indonesia -- >> look, i hear you. >> here's the problem. >> people hear what they want to hear. >> words matter. >> it's what you would like to hear. it is hard for chuck and i to say mitt romney means x. i think that's what's hard for people to get around. i'm not in mitt romney's head. i can't say why he is using the word foreign. i would say look, we had last week john sununu, a prime, very prominent surrogate, former new hampshire governor of mitt romney saying he doesn't understand what it's like to be an american. john sununu later recanted because they understood that was kind of a bridge too far. but the context of those things -- >> context matters. >> yes. >> one big thing, take away from the poll, is that it's this issue which is we're about halftime in the general election. he's about to go on all this. tactically the president's winning. he's not just winning by default. he's winning because he has put

mitt romney on the defensive in these last 60 days. tactically the obama campaign is beatsing romney. >> you will have more details about the poll at 6:30 on "nightly news." thank you very much. we will talk to you again. thank you very much. chris cillizza and chuck todd. details are now still emerging about james holmes. the 24-year-old suspect in the deadly colorado shooting rampage, holmes a one-time graduate student at the university of colorado, is going to be making his next court appearance monday. meanwhile, family members are trying to make funeral plans for some of the victims of friday's shootings. nbc's miguel is live for us in colorado. what are the latest developments today, because a lot has been happening behind the scenes. >> reporter: just a few miles from where we're standing, police were once again at the suspect's home. of course they were there for a couple of days over the weekend. it was wired, they say, with boobytraps.

they were forced to go in using im provised devices to set off the traps. they were back there today. it appears they were looking for more evidence. as you know, the suspect, james holmes, was here in court yesterday. he was in court for a short time. he certainly looked very dazed, very confused. at one point, as though he was going to fall asleep. police are still obviously gathering evidence in this case. he will be charged with at least 12 counts of murder and attempted murder, some 70 people were injured the night of the shooting, and of course, the prosecutors here in colorado can use the death penalty in this case. they say they are going to talk to the victims' families before they decide what comes next. investigators clearly still gathering evidence in this case and still pushing forward. >> the holmes family has issued a statement. let's listen to a little bit from a spokeswoman for the holmes family. >> their hearts go out to the victims and their families. the holmes family would like to maintain their privacy.

so at this time, we will not be discussing james or his relationship to the family. >> at least there's a little bit of good news, partially good news. the medley family, katie, who was nine months pregnant when she went with her husband, her husband i believe is still in a coma in the hospital, he was shot in the head or the throat, but she gave birth this morning to a little boy. >> reporter: certainly good news for that family. the father, her father was here in court yesterday, felt it was important for him to be here, to see this killer face-to-face. as you mentioned, she did give birth to a baby boy. her husband is in the same hospital, not far from where she gave birth to that baby boy. he was shot in the head and is still in critical condition. but good news for that family. a healthy baby boy was born. >> thank you so much, miguel. survivors are struggling to deal with the horror of that

night. jansen young talked to savannah guthrie about jonathan blunk. >> i think john just took a bullet for me. i was thinking about what a great hero he is. like he provided me the opportunity to survive. he just knew, you know. >> he was obviously a wonderful person, what he did for you and those final moments. what would you want people to know about this man that you loved? >> he wasn't just a hero last night. he has been a hero forever and well before i even met him. one thing he said to me once was we were like talking and one thing he said was i was born to serve my country. because he was re-enlisting and it was just what he wanted to

do, and he loved it, you know. i know even though he saved me, and he gave me the opportunity to live, he would have done it for anyone that day. >> joining me now is jon blunk's cousin, jessica watts. i know you were one of the few family members who wanted to go into that courtroom yesterday. you wanted to look at the alleged shooter, james holmes, in that court appearance. first of all, our condolences to you. jon blunk was such a hero. we just heard the testimony from his friend. i want to hear more about him. i'm wondering what did you see when you were in the courtroom? >> first of all, thank you for having me. jon, he believed in the justice system. he was part of the military and when he got out of the military, he was at one point trying to become a police officer. and he believed in the justice

system so i wanted to go yesterday and to see how, you know, things played out, make sure that for jon's sake, that the trial was held, you know, that the trial is held and all the proceedings are held with integrity and a fair trial, because that's something that jon believed in. >> we all watched the face of this young man and the orange hair and the dazed expression and it was hard to read what was going on, because he was so expressionless. what was your impression? >> i actually reserved any sort of impression. i was more blank than anything, just soaking it all in, a sponge, if you will, and i was mostly there to soak it in, you know, so that i understood the

gravity of what was going on. but also to be there for other families who were having a harder time coping as he walked into the courtroom. >> and tell us about jon. if we could focus more on the heroes and the survivors and those tragically who did not survive rather than the alleged suspect. tell us about jon and his life and you've mentioned a bit about his belief in the justice system and his interest in the police at one point, his service in the navy. two tours in the navy, as i understand it. >> and you know, he had two amazingly extraordinarily beautiful children, and you know, his wife and he had a very loving, supportive family that were really behind him and his decisions to, you know, be in the military, to pursue -- he was also, you know, he worked

for the fire department or you know, he was a firefighter and he was, you know, he worked as an emt. you know, he had that training, that background. and also, as well as he was looking to re-enlist as a navy s.e.a.l. and that was something that we had discussed about him, you know, working to get back into the military and eventually pursue his ultimate goal, professionally, to become a navy s.e.a.l. >> we are so sorry and sorry for your loss. thank you for sharing with us your thoughts today, jessica. turning to foreign policy, foreign policy is taking center stage today as mitt romney prepares to attack president obama's record. we'll have a preview and do our own reality check. and join us tomorrow. we'll have a special olympic sized edition of "andrea mitchell reports" from 1:00 to 2:30. 90 minutes eastern time, of

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today it's mitt romney's turn speaking on foreign policy. this afternoon, coming up shortly, to the veterans of foreign wars convention in nevada. this is the same group president obama addressed just yesterday. the campaign says that romney will try to paint a contrast with the president, saying quote, i'm an unapologetic believer in the greatness of this country. i'm not ashamed of american power. i am guided by one overwhelming conviction and passion, this century must be an american century. nbc's ron mott is live in reno, where romney is expected to take the stage in about 45 minutes. first of all, this suggests

explicitly that the president is an apologetic or is apologizing for america and doesn't believe that this should be an american century. things that the obama camp would surely push back strongly against. >> surely, andrea. good day to you. i think mitt romney is going to tell these veterans of foreign wars that he would be a better commander in chief basically on the world stage. he is as you know planning a three stop trip overseas, going to the olympics in london followed by a trip into poland and in between, into israel as well. so i think what he wants to do is to reset the agenda for americans overseas and american partners overseas, that he would bring a new tone to american foreign policy that barack obama has brought them with some success, granted, militarily, but i think mitt romney wants to be able to paint a contrast that he's going to be a different kind of commander in chief and i think he's going to try to win this audience over today with that message.

>> ron mott in reno. we are waiting to hear the speech and i know you're reporting as well throughout the afternoon. with me now is dan seymour, former foreign policy advisor for the bush administration, currently advising the romney campaign. let's talk about the speech today but also the trip more broadly. what mitt romney hopes to accomplish by going first to london, then to israel, then to poland. >> first, your first question on the speech, one of the areas that he'll focus on, he'll focus on a number of areas where he believes we need stronger leadership ranging from iran to standing by our allies but a key part of the speech today will focus on the national security threats which is a focus of governor romney's but really elevated by comments that senator dianne feinstein, democrat chairman of the committee on intelligence just made in the last 24 hours where she said the white house has to be clear, they have to understand the leaks, these national security leaks, these devastating national security leaks, are coming from within

their own ranks, from within the white house's ranks. governor romney will talk about that today, particularly when speaking to veterans who obviously leaks about sensitive national security matters, intelligence matters, is something they quite understandably would worry about. he's going to continue to call for the white house to come clean on this and for there to be a special counsel appointed to get to the bottom of this. >> the obama administration has said that it is going to punish anyone who is responsible for these leaks, and has appointed two investigators, two prosecutors, i should say, from the justice department to investigate. >> they have appointed two political appointments, that are appointed by -- they're already working and appointed by attorney general holder and president obama. they're presidential appointees. hardly independent voices. what's clear here and there's a growing consensus, there's got to be some sort of independent investigation where the person doing -- leading the investigation is not some appointee of the president's and that's why we need some kind of

special counsel and again, just take it from the chairman of the senate select committee on intelligence, democrat senator dianne feinstein, who has really raised concerns here that i think people are starting to wake up to, and the need for this to be led independently of the investigation be led independently of administration, white house presidential appointees. >> one of the points that the presidential -- the president's campaign people are putting out is that mitt romney has not been specific about afghanistan. is he going to go to the veterans of foreign wars today, is he going to in london argue that we should not be withdrawing at this rapid a pace from afghanistan? what is his timetable for afghanistan? >> he'll talk about afghanistan in his speech today. he's talked about it before. he's been clear that he agrees with the transition to afghan security forces in 2014. he supports that timeline. it's the same timeline the president's on.

what he has been critical of is upending the surge forces in the middle of the fighting season, in the fall of 2012, which struck many people, including many former retired military officers, as a political timeline. in fact, at the time general mullen and others serving the military said their recommendation was not to end the surge in fall of 2012. so he'll talk about afghanistan, where he disagrees with the president, but he supports a timeline for withdrawal. >> dan, one of the things i wanted to point out just to clear the record here is that one of those two u.s. attorneys was a bush administration, bush white house appointee. so he's a holdover from the bush white house. >> sure. >> in terms of your earlier point about it being a political appointee. we have prosecutors all over the country who are holdovers who don't necessarily get appointed and confirmed under this administration. no one questions their

legitimacy as prosecutors. >> absolutely, andrea. however, in matters that are sensitive as this, and where the president of the united states and his top advisors have so much at stake, particularly so much at stake politically, we think it's wise to take advantage, for the government, for the administration to take advantage of the special counsel law and appoint someone independent from any other role or responsibility under the current employ right now. >> dan, we wish you well and safe, good travels. i know you will be traveling with governor romney. we hope we can speak to you from london or from israel or from poland along the way. >> happy to, andrea. it should be an exciting trip. i look forward to debriefing with you when i return. >> excellent. thank you very much. up next, the showdown over pennsylvania's new voter i.d. law. we'll be live in harrisburg where you can see a rally is under way on the steps of the capitol. announcer ] if you have to take care of legal matters. legalzoom has an easy and affordable option. you get quality services on your terms, with total customer support,

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hundreds of people are now gathering at the naacp's rally against pennsylvania's new voter i.d. law in harrisburg, pennsylvania today. organizers say that this new law threatens to disenfranchise nearly 10% of the state's voters and that it could change the outcome of the election in pennsylvania, a key state obviously. meanwhile, supporters of the measure say that it is simply meant to combat voter fraud. we are live in harrisburg with more. let's talk about the law and what the opponents are saying. >> reporter: hi, andrea. that law went into effect or the governor signed that law, rather, earlier this year and it would require voters to provide a government-issued photo i.d. before they are able to vote, making it one of the strictest voter i.d. laws in the country. opponents of this law say that it will disenfranchise voters and it will specifically impact more heavily groups like minorities, the poor, elderly, students, groups that are less likely to have an existing government-issued photo i.d. and

may face more impediments to actually getting it. things like access to birth records or marriage licenses, people who may have been born in a rural area, people who may have financial limitations that would allow them to go ahead and get that government-issued i.d. so for those reasons, opponents are against this new legislation and that's what this rally here is all about, raising that awareness and expressing their displeasure with what they think is an attempt to disenfranchise people. now, there was also a legal challenge here. the aclu has filed a lawsuit along with some other voting rights groups, and they would like to get an injunction here in this case and the department of justice civil rights division has also opened an investigation to make sure the state is complying with existing federal voting rights laws. now, as you mentioned, this is a battleground state. this voting i.d. issue is happening all over the country, in 30 states, but here in pennsylvania, a lot of people feel that it is especially significant because it is a battleground state, and it has the potential to keep a lot of people from the polls.

a recent analysis found by cross-referencing the percentage of people who are registered voters with those who had existing drivers' licenses, they found 9% of people would not have the requisite i.d. that's required. of course, proponents of the law say this is all about combatting voter fraud but court documents released earlier this month concede state officials say there have been no investigations or prosecutions of in-person voter fraud in the state. >> one of the things you just pointed out, 9% statewide but 18% of the voting population in the city of philadelphia would not have drivers' licenses and areas with mass transit. those are the very people that of course the obama camp is counting on to put them over the top in pennsylvania. >> reporter: yeah, that's absolutely correct. just generally speaking, opponents to this legislation say that it's going to impact the groups that traditionally support the democratic candidate for president and i should point out, this crowd is heavily favored to obama. they were chanting "obama,

obama" earlier. this really has become an issue that's divided on political partisan lines. >> thank you very much. thanks for being with us in harrisburg today. elton john gets deeply personal, part two of our interview next on "andrea mitchell reports." this is new york state. we built the first railway, the first trade route to the west, the greatest empires. then, some said, we lost our edge. well today, there's a new new york state. one that's working to attract businesses and create jobs. a place where innovation meets determination... and businesses lead the world. the new new york works for business. find out how it can work for yours at thenewny.com.

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with the international aids conference under way in washington this week, thousands are now marching in the city, trying to raise awareness about the fight for prevention, treatment and ultimately a cure for the disease. for the past two decades, sir elton john has dedicated his life to that crusade. last night, he and secretary of state hillary clinton were honored by the human rights campaign for their dedication to ending the epidemic. today, elton john and his foundation members are meeting with senators and congress members about the importance of continued funding for the global campaign. we bring you the second part of our conversation with elton john, this time it is deeply personal about heroes of the movement, his own failings and how love helped him conquer his addictions and changed his life.

>> elizabeth taylor, she stood out at a time when nobody stood up and lambasted the government. elizabeth glazer with the pediatric aids foundation, another hero i had lunch with and lost her life and her daughter lost her life. courageous people who stood up at a time it was so unfashionable and dangerous to speak out. american government didn't really do anything or speak about it for seven years. it was like, you know, it's homosexuals, let them die. i hate to say that but it's the truth. and then the ryan white act. it took a young boy to die to completely turn people's opinions around about aids. and you know, he gave his life for aids and the ryan white act continues his name and his legacy. i hope with the work i do, it continues his name and legacy. there are so many giants. matilda crimm, who formed

am-far. still around, still a vibrant woman. >> princess diana. how important was she in destigmatizing it? the fact she would go into a hospital, take someone by the hand, hold a child, and communicate by that very act the fact that it was not communicable? >> for a member of the royal family and probably the most popular member of the royal family at that time to go into a hospice or hospital and hold someone, to give them a kiss, was quite honestly, it was like knocking down a bunch of dominoes. it was a very, very important step. and it was a very loving thing that she did and she did it because she believed that all the nonsense written about aids was nonsense and she wanted to show that these people deserve compassion and they should show it from the highest rank of the british society which was the royal family. when she did that, it made a hell of a difference.

it made a hell of a difference. it gave people hope. little things like that, it's like for example, four weeks ago, you know, we have been battling the gay marriage thing in america for a long time. hillary clinton came out, made a wonderful speech about the gay population and the gay generation and then the vice president came out in favor of gay marriage and then the president, and then jay-z, probably the most respected african-american artist, came out and said not only is it wrong to not have gay marriage but any discrimination in life is wrong. it was an incredibly moving statement. you don't realize -- i phoned him over in england and said you have no idea what you've just said, how powerful this is. the african-american society were apprehensive about this all along. just when you get someone who is a role model like jay-z to say this, you have no idea. the dominoes fell. i take my hat off to him and i

respect him so much for doing that. you know, when i next see him, i'm going to give him the biggest hug. >> there was another turning point politically. you certainly because of his position on gay rights, were not a fan of george w. bush. there was the war, two wars, several other issues, to say the least, but you're watching, you write in your book you're watching the state of the union address, you lived in the states on and off, you've had a home in atlanta, you're watching the 2003 state of the union address. tell me about your reactions to watching george w. bush announcing the billions of dollars that he was going to ask for to be appropriated for global aids. >> i remember jumping up and punching the air but also, at the same time, feeling that i swallowed a boiled egg. i couldn't believe it. it was just a wonderful, again, a pivotal turning point in the treatment of aids people throughout the world.

and when i got my kennedy center honor and spent some time with him and rumsfeld and condoleezza rice and colin powell backstage at the interval of the concert, we had a wonderful ten minutes of conversation. he was very informed about aids. i wasn't on the same political, you know, page as him. i didn't agree with a lot of his policies. but he impressed me greatly. >> in fact, you write that you had talked to david about not even accepting the kennedy honors award because at first you thought it would come from his administration when in fact it was coming -- >> i was very much against the iraqi war and the same feelings with tony blair in england. i was outraged we were at war but i said you know, this is about, no matter who's in power, the kennedy center awards are given, america has been so great to me, i cannot turn this down because it's my second home. i love america dearly. it's in my soul.

and i did ask him, i think i put it in the book, i said what, can i do anything for you, mr. president. he said yeah, tell the french to give more money. that made me laugh so much. >> you know, the other sense of bipartisanship, senator teddy kennedy, and when you testified, and orrin hatch for republicans and others were there who had done something in terms of getting the money appropriated. >> of course. it's been a bipartisan effort. i testified in front of congress and i think everybody who testified that day made a great impression. i had the greatest time that morning, had breakfast with orrin hatch and ted kennedy. i met so many other people politically. i don't agree with whatever. politics is all about having a different idea on one side than the other. >> you're so honest in the book and so revealing. how difficult was it to write about your addictions? >> it was very -- it was very --

it was a release. i mean, i wrote about it in treatment. i had to write everything down. for the general public to read it, people said you're hard on yourself but i wasn't hard on myself in the book. i was just telling the truth. addiction is a horrible thing. it's really the most disgusting thing. the greatest thing that happened to me when i went to rehab was that when i first went to group session, and people talked about their addiction, i went oh, my god, you did that as well? the amount of shame i felt through what i did when i went to rehab, i wasn't ashamed of being a drug addict so much as i was more ashamed that i couldn't work a washing machine or make myself a piece of toast. i had become obsolete as a person. completely obsolete. that really made me ashamed. when you heard other people talking about the same things that you had and what you did, it meant that i belonged somewhere. because my sense of addiction was i didn't belong anywhere. and we must make people feel as if they belong. if they're hiv positive, they

must feel as if they belong to a group of people that care about them. we should -- they should all be treated equal and they will be. i promise you that. we will make them feel part of society because unless you do that, then this disease is never going to go away. >> tell me about zachary. >> oh, my god. we have this little boy now who, you know, everyone said wait until you have a little child, it will change your life. well, of course it's changed our life. i have never loved anything or anyone so much in my life, nor has david. he is our reason for being now. everything that we do is now takes second place to what's good for him. he fills our world with love and joy and just watching him grow up and say daddy and papa, it's -- i sound like the only person who's had a child but you know, for me, it's been an amazing experience. i never thought i would be a father and i have now got a child and a son, and it's the greatest thing in the whole wide

world. >> how is marriage changing your life? >> it's funny, when david and i had our civil partnership which is in the united kingdom, we didn't think it would make any difference but it did. it solidified us. david and i are like a team, we're like hand in glove. the more i get older the more i love that. with zachary now, it's just, he's the most important thing. what's most important for him. and to see him every day and to wake up and have breakfast with him, oh, my god. >> what do you hope for for him? >> i hope for an aids-free world, for a world that is more compassionate towards each other, and i believe that the younger generation will provide that. there's enough hate in the world. and we only hear about the hate. we don't hear about the love. recently i played the queen's jubilee concert in london. the feeling of love from 250,000 people in front of the palace that night, it was overpowering,

admiration and love for someone. it's an incredibly powerful thing. to say some people don't like the word love but passion, love, it's the same thing. it's just that -- there's so much more of it in the world than there is hate. we just don't get to hear about the loving things. everybody in the trenches doing great things for people every day, acts of kindness that you never hear about. but it's only the tragedy people want to read about. and there's enough tragedy to go around, i'll admit that. but there's much more love. >> love is the cure. >> it is. >> and thank you very much. thank you for your passion. thank you for your commitment. >> thanks. our time with elton john. meanwhile, foreign policy resumes. the fight today as mitt romney gets ready to address veterans in reno. we will hear from the obama campaign, tim romer, coming up next. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports." i'm serious, we compare our direct rates side by side to find you a great deal, even if it's not with us.

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you're looking at live pictures from reno, nevada. mitt romney is minutes from taking the stage at the veterans of foreign wars convention. of course, the president was there on monday. joining me now is tim romer, former congress member, former ambassador, and now speaking for the obama campaign. we talked to dan senor, foreign policy advisor, as you know, to mitt romney. and he was making the point that first of all, they say that the president, that mitt romney will be unapologetic about american foreign policy and also that there have been leaks that need to be investigated and that the administration has to do a much better job and they point out that a democrat, prominent democrat, the intelligence chair, dianne feinstein, is one of the critics of the administration on these national security leaks. >> well, first, great to be here. thanks for having me on your show. to dan's point about appeasing, ask bin laden about appeasement.

ask moammar gadhafi. the president has acted as commander in chief of the most powerful country in the world and struck very successfully at bin laden and at al qaeda, protecting our country, protecting our homeland, then forming a coalition with allies and neighbors to remove gadhafi from power in libya and hopefully, have elections there. look, we all wish as americans that governor romney has a successful trip overseas and that he has a high standard, specifically when he talks about what he's going to accomplish. just as barack obama did in 2008, in july, where he met with tony blair, where he met with gordon brown, where he met with opposition leaders, where he met with our troops. we hope that governor romney's trip sets the same kind of specific policy standards and is not just simply a photo op or fund-raising opportunity or to view the olympics. as much as we want to see our country succeed in the olympics,

we hope that london visit is much more about encouraging gold medals. >> what about the fact the president has not been to israel since he took office? >> well, let's clear that up. barack obama has been to israel cities in israel where hamas is right -- >> before he was sworn in. >> that's before he was sworn in, and when you go to the southern cities and you see where hamas has rained rockets on the israeli people you understand why the security relationship with israel and the united states is very important. when you go visit, you understand what the holocaust meant to the jewish people and people around the world. you know what security arrangements mean. and, andrea, i think it's really important when governor romney goes overseas that he explains what he would do as commander in chief. when you audition to be president of the was you're your party's nominee you can't come

up with platitudes i would do the opposite on israel or russia's main geopolitical foe in today's world. those are statements from 19th century, not reflecting a strategic vision of the 21st century. >> we have to leave it there. tim roamer. sally ride, the first american woman astronaut, she died of pancreatic cancer in california at age 61 yesterday. ride's seat on board the space shuttle "challenger" in 1983 mission made her the first 43 women to reach orbit through the space program. sally ride, a ph.d. in physics from stanford, also a leading advocate for women in science, education, whether inspiring children on sesame street back then -- >> a, astronaut. >> you got to love it. or recently in 2010, on nbc's

"education nation." >> the most important it's the teachers and the schools holding the high expectations and getting the message to the students, the girls as well as the boys we expect you to do well that you need to do well that he's subjects are important for your future, no matter what career you go into. you don't need to be a rocket scientist, math and science are still going to be important for you as you go on. >> president obama paid tribute to sally ride as a national hero and powerful role model. she died surrounded by friends and family in her home in la jolla, california. [ male announcer ] you've reached the age where you don't back down from a challenge. this is the age of knowing how to make things happen. so, why let erectile dysfunction get in your way? talk to your doctor about viagra. 20 million men already have. ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain;

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>> the game is a lot of fun to follow sometimes the outcome really matters. which political story will make headlines in the next 24 hours? chris cillizza, talking about foreign policy, and mitt romney's trip. >> right, mitt romney's speech and then tonight leaves for a foreign trip, hits london, going to do fund-raisers there, be at olympics, going to israel and going to poland.

so this will get significant coverage. remember, it's not -- i think he's going to sufficient interest the comparisons to the huge crowds president obama got as condition obama. checking out that commander in chief box, do people see him as someone ready to lead on the world stage? this trip, his campaign hopes, will speak to that. >> fill in the gaps that we'll have more on later in the day on the "wall street journal"/nbc/"wall street journal" poll. chris cillizza, thank you. that does it for us for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." tomorrow, join us for our expanded olympic sized show from 1:00 to 2:30 eastern. followed by olympic women's soccer. quarter finals here. my colleague, craig melvin, a look at what's next on "news nation." >> andrea, following developing news in the next hour. in just a moment, mitt romney expected to address the vfw convention in nevada, one day after president obama addressed that same group. we will, of course, bring you live coverage of that. also, a preview of the new

poll including who voters think has the best ideas to improve the economy. we'll talk about the bill biden rollout, the vice president's son is in a unique position to be the perfect ambassador for his father and his father's boss, the president k is c ommitt to being a different kind of communications company by continuing to help you do more and focus on the things that matter to you. with less chronic osteoarthritis pain. imagine living your life with less chronic low back pain. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one non-narcotic pill a day, every day, can help reduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens, you have unusual changes in mood or behavior or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults.

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